Sunday, September 4, 2016

Forgiveness and the Healing of the Soul: Homily for the 11th Sunday of Matthew in the Orthodox Church

Matthew 18:23-35

Sometimes the truth
has to come to us in an unusual way in order to get our attention. That
is because most of us are really good at hearing only what we want to hear and
seeing only what we want to see.
Unfortunately, that means we are skilled in ignoring uncomfortable truths,
including the simple teaching of our Lord that we must forgive others if we
want God to forgive us. In today’s
gospel text, Jesus Christ spoke a very disturbing parable that should make that
truth clear to us all.

A servant owed his ruler more money than he could possibly earn in his entire
life. When he could not pay, the master was ready to sell him and his
entire family in order to cover the debt. But the servant begged for more
time to pay, and the master showed mercy even beyond his request. He
actually forgave the huge debt; the man then owed nothing and he and his family
were safe from punishment of any kind. This was an unbelievably good turn of
events for the servant and his family.

Then that same servant found another servant who owed him a much smaller sum of
money. Since the second man did not have enough to pay the debt, the
first servant had him put in prison until he could pay. He refused to
show him even a small measure of mercy or patience. When the king heard about
it, he was enraged that the man to whom he had forgiven so much would be so
cruel to his fellow servant. So the king put the first servant in prison
until he could pay all that he owed. The Lord ended this parable with the
harsh warning: “So My heavenly Father also will do to you if each of you, from
his heart, does not forgive his brother his trespasses.”

This parable gets our attention because we all find it hard to forgive at least
some of the people who have wronged or offended us in the course of our lives.
Regardless of whether the wrongs occurred days, years, or decades ago, it is difficult
to forgive. At times we actually enjoy holding grudges against others; maybe it
serves our pride to think that we are better than those who have wronged us,
and thus justified in looking down on them. We sometimes hate our
tendency to remember past offenses, but unpleasant memories can play over and
over in our minds, inflame our passions, and make us feel powerless against
them.

Like everything else in the Christian life, forgiveness is a process of healing
as we participate more fully in the life of Christ by the power of the Holy
Spirit. Notice that the Lord concluded the parable by saying that we must
forgive others from our hearts, from the depths of our souls. Though it is
a necessary and important first step, simply putting on a good face and not
striking back is just the beginning of the journey. Our goal is not only to be a bit better at
self-control, but to be fully reconciled with our neighbors, to be so filled
with love that we forgive and forget, and show them the same mercy that the
Lord has shown us with a pure and whole heart. When we realize how far we
are from fulfilling that high goal, our need for His mercy should become all
the more clear.

Even as we always want God to forgive us when we sin, there is no limit to the
forgiving, reconciling love that He calls us to give our enemies. When
St. Peter asked how many times he was to forgive his brother who sinned against
him, maybe seven times, Christ said, no, ‘seventy times seven.” (Matt.
18:22) In other words, we should always forgive; there is never a point where
the Christian becomes justified in judging, condemning, and refusing to show
mercy. We are instead to be perfect as our Heavenly Father is perfect in His
providential love, care, and blessing for the just and the unjust. (Matt. 5:48)

None of us is anywhere near fulfilling that divine calling, but we must not give
up and despair about our struggle to forgive others. Instead, we must remember that to be a
Christian means to participate personally in the life of the Holy Trinity by
grace. Jesus Christ brings us into eternal life such that we share in His
victory over sin and death. Already in this life, in the world as we know
it, the holiness, mercy, and love of the Lord must become active in us, must become
characteristic of us as unique persons as we find greater healing for our
souls.

The more we participate in Him, the more we
will extend His forgiveness to those who have wronged us. If we refuse to
do so, however, we refuse Christ and reject His mercy. And when we refuse
Him, we condemn only ourselves.

In moments of anger and pain, it is usually
much easier to judge, hate, and condemn than to love and forgive. Ever
since the fall of Adam and Eve, we humans have distorted our relationships with
one another, allowing fear, judgment, and insecurity to divide us. Early
in the book of Genesis, their descendent Lamech brags that he will avenge
himself seventy-seven fold. (Gen. 4:24) In other words, he was like a bloodthirsty
gangster who never showed mercy to anyone. We are not that far gone, but
we probably do find it beyond our present strength to forgive seventy times
seven as Christ forgives us.

Like any other area of weakness in the
Christian life, our struggle to forgive must begin with a sincere confession
that we hold a grudge against someone else. So we must ask for God’s
forgiveness and help in being healed. We
must also pray for those who have offended us, asking God’s blessings on
them. And when we are tempted to remember what they have done or to judge
them, we must immediately turn our attention to the Jesus Prayer and remembrance
of our own need for forgiveness from the Lord, and from those whom we have
offended throughout the course of our lives. We are not the blameless
judges of others, but those who stand in constant need of grace, mercy, and
healing together with those who have wronged us.

It is a long struggle, but if we consistently
turn away from unholy thoughts, they will lose their power over us.
“Resist the devil and he will flee from you.” (James 4:7) The less attention we
give to our temptations, the more they will diminish. The challenge is harder
if the others involved in these relationships continue offending us. But
remember what the one who told us to forgive seventy times seven said from the
cross, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.” (Luke 23:34)
There is no limit to the forgiving love of Jesus Christ. And if we are in
Him, there can be no limit on our forgiveness either. We who want His
mercy must show it to others. Otherwise, we reject Him and condemn
ourselves.

Every human being bears the image of God,
including our enemies. In that we have done something harmful to anyone,
we have done it to the Lord. Remember
the words of St. John: “If someone says, ‘I love God,’ and hates his
brother, he is a liar.” (1 John 4:20) It is only by the power of the Holy
Spirit in our hearts and souls that we will be able to live out our love of God
in relation to every human being we encounter.

The more we share in His life, the more His
mercy will become characteristic of us in relation to our enemies. We fool only ourselves by thinking that we
may accept His forgiveness without also showing that same forgiveness to our
neighbors. If we do that, we will become
the hypocritical judges of others, like the servant in today’s parable who shut
himself out of his master’s mercy. Whether
we acknowledge it or not, that is who we risk becoming every time that we
refuse to extend the great forgiveness that we have received in Jesus Christ to
those who have wronged us. So let us all
convey our Lord’s mercy to our enemies, for that is how we open ourselves to
the grace that we all desperately need for the healing of our souls.

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Fr. Philip has addressed audiences at St. Herman Orthodox Theological Seminary in Kodiak, AK, and St. Vladimir’s Orthodox Seminary, NY. He has also earned lots of frequent flyer miles as an invited participant in international Orthodox consultations on social ethics in Greece, Romania, and Syria.

He often introduces visiting groups of students from local universities to the Orthodox faith. He has also spoken about Eastern Christianity at Methodist, Episcopal, and Church of Christ congregations in Abilene. You may listen to his podcasts on www.ancientfaithradio.org. He has also been interviewed on “Come Receive the Light,” an internationally syndicated radio program of the Orthodox Christian Network (www.myocn.net). Anyone wanting to invite him to speak may send an email to: plemasters@mcm.edu.